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Calgary's Downtown Dilemma

As far as I know they still own one site in the downtown... Their old HQ.

Do they still own the EV Booth site?

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Seeing the University's upcoming plans for the Nexen tower has given me hope for the west end of downtown and maybe downtown altogether.

There's good potential to make that part of downtown into something vibrant. 8th street from 17th ave SW to downtown is already busy with foot traffic, and as @CBBarnett pointed out in the other thread, there is the upgraded plans for 8th street's pedestrian realm. At the north end of 8th street and 4th ave you make a short left and you have corridor into Kensington. There's a possibility of making a consistently vibrant corridor from Beltline 17th ave to Kensington 10th street.

This image, shows (in green) what I would call improvements to supporting that corridor. 6 active improvements within a block of the 8th street corridor - The University plan of course is huge, and also an addition of a hotel. Cornerstone, Dominion, Loft and AHC will add new residents. WVT might not be a great project itself, but it adds around 500 residents to the area. All these projects together are going to be a big improvement to the area. If we can get some development on the lots show in red, we'd be on a major roll. At some point if the west end of downtown can become a vibrant area, the vibrancy could spread eastward.

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Seeing the University's upcoming plans for the Nexen tower has given me hope for the west end of downtown and maybe downtown altogether.

There's good potential to make that part of downtown into something vibrant. 8th street from 17th ave SW to downtown is already busy with foot traffic, and as @CBBarnett pointed out in the other thread, there is the upgraded plans for 8th street's pedestrian realm. At the north end of 8th street and 4th ave you make a short left and you have corridor into Kensington. There's a possibility of making a consistently vibrant corridor from Beltline 17th ave to Kensington 10th street.

This image, shows (in green) what I would call improvements to supporting that corridor. 6 active improvements within a block of the 8th street corridor - The University plan of course is huge, and also an addition of a hotel. Cornerstone, Dominion, Loft and AHC will add new residents. WVT might not be a great project itself, but it adds around 500 residents to the area. All these projects together are going to be a big improvement to the area. If we can get some development on the lots show in red, we'd be on a major roll. At some point if the west end of downtown can become a vibrant area, the vibrancy could spread eastward.

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That lot along the river you have a red square around is part of the RiverWalk West. I think it is turning into park space. Been a little over a year since they started on the final design development.

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Looks like some action on some of the issues we've talked about in other threads.

The vast majority of those charged have prior criminal records and histories of trafficking-related charges, and some had trials pending or were subject to conditions, police said.

All of the people who were arrested were offered information about getting addiction treatment and help with finding housing and employment, police said.

They will be potential candidates for the Drug Treatment Court or the Calgary Indigenous Court if appropriate.


 
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It’s a difficult situation and I’m not unsympathetic to those who are suffering addiction, but I think my leaning on this has changed over the years.

I think leniency has exacerbated the problem, and that maybe the solution needs to be more enforcement, and not just on traffickers, but also on drug users (i.e., enforcement of possession laws). I’m not saying it needs to be a “war on drugs” with enforcement of maximum sentences, but I do think enforcement on procession, with clemency where appropriate, might be the next stage in the evolution of the drug epidemic.

It would likely put a strain on the justice system, but could maybe help those with addiction get the help they need while also reducing the customer base for traffickers. I’d be supportive of reduced sentencing or record suspensions (pardons) for those who complete treatment (where appropriate).

I just don’t think we should carry on the way we currently are where we turn a blind eye to public consumption of illicit narcotics.
 
It’s a difficult situation and I’m not unsympathetic to those who are suffering addiction, but I think my leaning on this has changed over the years.

I think leniency has exacerbated the problem, and that maybe the solution needs to be more enforcement, and not just on traffickers, but also on drug users (i.e., enforcement of possession laws). I’m not saying it needs to be a “war on drugs” with enforcement of maximum sentences, but I do think enforcement on procession, with clemency where appropriate, might be the next stage in the evolution of the drug epidemic.

It would likely put a strain on the justice system, but could maybe help those with addiction get the help they need while also reducing the customer base for traffickers. I’d be supportive of reduced sentencing or record suspensions (pardons) for those who complete treatment (where appropriate).

I just don’t think we should carry on the way we currently are where we turn a blind eye to public consumption of illicit narcotics.
At a certain point, giving the people option to go into treatment was viable, as many drug users were still functional and able to hold basic jobs. But as others have mentioned, the drugs now are so strong, we cannot reasonably expect these people still have the capacity to make informed decisions. Treatment costs is a massive problem, and I wonder if we can find ways to do it more cost effectively if done at scale
 
It’s a difficult situation and I’m not unsympathetic to those who are suffering addiction, but I think my leaning on this has changed over the years.

I think leniency has exacerbated the problem, and that maybe the solution needs to be more enforcement, and not just on traffickers, but also on drug users (i.e., enforcement of possession laws). I’m not saying it needs to be a “war on drugs” with enforcement of maximum sentences, but I do think enforcement on procession, with clemency where appropriate, might be the next stage in the evolution of the drug epidemic.
I'm finding myself of a similar mindset. Not feeling less empathetic to the people with the addiction issues, but more of a case of it feeling like these newest addiction issues are either very difficult to solve, or maybe not even solvable at all.
Normally my thoughts on rehab are people normally need to be the ones willing to do it and decide for themselves, but the addiction issues seem to be at a point where that might not be possible. I'm not in love with the idea of forced rehab, but which is worse: losing some freedom or not being under any care and dying on the street somewhere?
 

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